The Tifo Display

Section 8 Chicago, the
Independent Supporters Association of the Chicago Fire, has a history of being
one of the first supporter’s in MLS to create tifo displays at their club’s
matches. This tradition, specifically that of "choreo" - the brand
organized and done before kickoff in an important match - has its roots in
continental European soccer. Supporters' groups for prominent clubs like AC
Milan and Paris Saint-Germain are known to have the volunteer support of
well-known artists to plan and execute elaborate displays. Some even release
books (http://www.baslerchoreo.ch/)
documenting their progress and creativity in support of their club.

With Section 8
organizing another tifo display ahead of Sunday night’s clash with the New York
Red Bulls, I spoke to the ISA’s president Tom Dunmore this week about Section
8’s work with the unique displays over the years.

Jeff Crandall: What
is the significance of the tifo display for Section 8?

Tom Dunmore: They’re really important for us to show our
support for the team, to build the atmosphere in the stadium and to get people
actively involved in supporting the Fire – making a game so it’s not a passive
thing that you just watch but something you can take part in. Making a display
is a lot of effort and the coordinating it to be shown during a game is as
well. Building that active support for the club is why we do it.

JC: What is the
history of tifos for Section 8?

TD: It goes back to before even I was around – you’d have to
find someone who’s been in Chicago longer than me because we have a long
history of doing them – I think the second longest history in the league behind DC, who were in the
league a couple years before us. It was only in the last couple of years with
the arrival of Toronto and Seattle that other supporters groups have started
doing some of the things too.

If you look at our website, Section8Chicago.com, you can see
sort of a pictorial history of some of the things we’ve done over the years and
they range from just regular small displays to very large displays like the
infamous “Mega Bandera” which stretched across the entire Harlem end. It was
paid for by fans and fan-produced.

That’s kind of the idea of it, it’s not something we look to
the team to provide for us – we raise the money ourselves and often physically
make the banners or flags. The display we’ll have on Sunday will be something
that people have put hours and hours of free time into creating and also quite
a large amount of money into purchasing the materials,

How many man hours
did you put into the tifo for Sunday vs. New York?
It’s probably going to total a good 2-3 nights work involving 15-20 people so
you’re talking 15-20 hours with that many people you’d get a lot: (225-400
hours!)

JC: What’s been your
favorite tifo display since you’ve been with Section 8?

TD: I really like the ones we did for the playoffs last year.
They covered four sections and it was rolls of table cloth that we taped
together here at Toyota Park. The second one we did was particularly good – we
made the civic flag, including cutting out the stars – a lot of complex stuff
that I couldn’t possibly execute myself, fortunately we have some really smart
people who planned this and we try to help them pull that off. That one was
really good because it helped build that atmosphere for those critical games.
Everybody before kickoff was really buzzed and that’s what the team needs every
game… That’s what we try to create with our tifo displays.

JC: (Sidebar: Have to
say I loved the display at the opener earlier this year with the quote from
Harold Washington, “Business as usual will not be accepted by the people of
Chicago”… Well done guys)

JC: Why is it so
important for fans to get into the stadium earlier than 5 minutes before the
match?

TD: It’s really important. When we’ve managed to get in
there early for warm ups especially like we did for New England last year
during the playoffs, the players really noticed it. You saw there were already
hundreds of people in their cheering an hour before the game and it really went
a long way to build the atmosphere for that game. It gives them a charged
feeling when they go back in the locker room for warm ups that this is a big-time
game, we’re a big-time club and these fans are putting in extra time to try and
get the team going. At the end that builds the relationship between fans and
the players.

You heard it here from
Tom himself, albeit relayed through me… Tonight’s game will certainly be
electric as very few tickets remain available… If you’re attending, make sure
to join the Section 8 “March-In” to the Stadium at 7pm and begin supporting the
team during warm ups! Just listen for the air horn to know it’s time to join
up… Find them in Toyota Park’s North Lot near Gate B!